By Dr Neil Flanagan
I was driving along minding my own business when another driver cut straight across in front of me. I responded by calling him all sorts of things, even referring to his parentage. Then the reality struck me that I was the only person being upset: the cause of my anger was oblivious to my outburst.
Whether it's driving a car, or whatever, it seems that we instinctively react to what we consider to be unfairnesses and opt to go down kicking and screaming. We want to make our feelings clear, to let the angst-causer know that we're not a pushover and that we're prepared to respond.
If you've lived long enough you'll know that unfair things happen. You might be diagnosed with a disease, blamed for something you didn't do, the ref might have made a bad call against your team, an agreement might be broken, or a partner might let you down in some way. We probably know that blowing a fuse is unlikely to change the situation but that doesn't seem to stop us.
The question is, what are we going to do about it - and live longer, better?
One answer is to adopt a different approach and respond in a different way to perceived injustices. The derailment on one path could be seen as an opportunity to find another.
While this is incredibly difficult work, it seems far better than the alternative. And surely, as we age, we have the wherewithal to show others how it can be done.
Dealing effectively with anger - our own and other's - can be challenging. If you'd like two free article on 'how to handle an angry person' and 'how to use anger constructively', just follow the prompts below and free copies can be with you, pronto.
Use this ongoing challenge as an opportunity to show Einstein got it wrong. He once said that there are only two things in life that are infinite - the Universe, and human stupidity, and he was not sure about the Universe. Don't be stupid. Keep cool!
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